Turnabout, I Do
by Sith Droideka
Summary: Phoenix Wright is getting married. Miles Edgeworth isn't very happy about it. But when Will Powers is murdered at the wedding, they both have to put aside their differences and find the real killer... whether it leads to a happy ending or not.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is already so old ugh, no seriously. My beta reader (and co-author of Roll for Initiative) and I came up with this idea about a year and a half ago. So most of this fic was actually written... a year and a half ago. Or maybe I bit less, I don't really remember. You're probably going to be able to tell exactly which point I picked work back up on it (or maybe not, no one commented on the 'break' in Ace Attorney: Awakening), but it's not in this chapter.**

 **Anyway, here we go. I apologize in advance for any clichés and whatnot, because, I mean, this is a Wrightworth fic. You'll probably figure out where this is going by the end of the first chapter. Haha... ha...**

* * *

"-oh, sorry!"

"No, that was my fault. I'm sorry. Here, let me help you with that-"

"Wait a minute…! Are you… are you Phoenix Wright? The defense attorney?"

"What? Um, yes, I am."

"I - I remember you from… where have I seen you before? I remember you from the recent Juan Corrida murder case."

"Oh, _that_ case…"

"Sorry. You don't need to look so, what's the word? So down. I should have realized it was a stressful trial… I mean, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and I was only watching!"

"Yeah. It was pretty crazy. Anyway, here's your stuff back, Ms…?"

"What? Oh, oh! Ioides. Hester Ioides. Uh, you can call me Hester, Mr. Wright."

"I guess in that case you can call me Phoenix."

"Ah, o-okay… Phoenix."

"…"

"…"

"A-Anyway, Hester, I have to go-"

"I heard you weren't taking any cases lately?"

"Well, no, but…"

"Why don't you just take a little break and join me for some coffee? I mean, only fifteen minutes. If you want to…"

"I - I'd love to."

* * *

 _August 19, 11:50 PM, Miles Edgeworth's House_

The phone rang and Edgeworth sighed. He had only just gotten in the bath. Irritated, he picked up a nearby handset, gave the caller ID a cursory glance, and answered the call. "For god's sake, Wright, it's nearly-"

"She said yes!"

Edgeworth paused. "Ms. Ioides?"

"Yes!" Wright certainly sounded excited.

"Listen, Wright. You've only known her since March. Are you sure marriage is really a good idea…?"

A pause from the other end of the line. "You're only saying that because you don't like her."

Edgeworth didn't deny it. Although he didn't have a concrete reason to, he suspected that Wright's girlfriend (or fiancée, now, he supposed) wasn't really who she seemed to be. Simply put, she rubbed him the wrong way.

"It doesn't matter," Wright said quickly, "you'll see, Edgeworth. Hester's wonderful."

"I suppose I don't have a choice in the matter," Edgeworth said drily, "since she likely isn't going to go anywhere." _At least until the inevitable divorce_ , he added silently.

"Don't rain on my parade," Wright laughed, "anyway, I just wanted to let you know."

"Congratulations," Edgeworth mumbled.

"Hold it!" Wright suddenly said, apparently guessing that Edgeworth was about to hang up (which, admittedly, he was), "actually, there was something else. At the wedding… will you be my best man?"

"No," Edgeworth said flatly.

"Why not?" Wright said, and he sounded genuinely hurt, "please, Edgeworth. I want you to be a part of this."

 _Because I will not be privy to your pact with the devil herself_ , Edgeworth thought, but what he said instead was, "You've been friends with Larry for much longer than you've been friends with me. Why don't you have him be your best man?"

"What, and have the wedding turn into a disaster?" Wright said, "come on, Edgeworth."

"No," Edgeworth said again.

"…look, I know you don't like Hester-"

"Which means I am not about to be a part of your marriage to her," Edgeworth interrupted.

"You can't even tell me why you don't like her."

"She's suspicious."

"…which is your way of saying you don't have a reason."

Edgeworth frowned. "I just don't think you're making a wise decision, Wright."

There was silence on the other end. "Okay, you don't have to be the best man if you're going to be like that," Wright said at length, "but will you at least come to the wedding?"

"I'll think about it," Edgeworth said, then hung up. He didn't pick up the phone again when Wright called back.

* * *

 _August 21, 6:00 PM, Wright & Co. Law Offices_

Hester Ioides was pretty in a plain, girl-next-door type way. She was pale and shapely with big, blue, friendly-looking eyes and long, shiny black hair wrapped up in a somewhat Scottish-looking way. She was soft-spoken and got along well with almost everyone, and her most (well, only) aggressive trait was her stubborn refusal to give up her beliefs. She held an undying faith in human nature close to her heart, and was always selflessly there when anyone needed her. In other words, Phoenix was sensationally in love with her. He was still giddy about the fact that she had agreed to marry him. It didn't even matter that Maya thought she was bland, or that Pearls resented her for "stealing Mr. Nick from Mystic Maya" even if she liked her otherwise, or that Larry kept hitting on her, or that Mia said he was an idiot for marrying someone he'd _technically_ only known a few months (she hadn't even met Hester yet!), or that Edgeworth hated her for no apparent reason. Phoenix was thrilled.

What wasn't so thrilling was Hester's suggestion that Phoenix try to mend the bridges that Edgeworth was rapidly burning. To be honest, Phoenix didn't even know what Edgeworth's problem with Hester was. He _said_ she was suspicious somehow, but never attempted to actually prove that she was - and Edgeworth was never really one to make emotion-based judgements, so what exactly was going on in his mind, Phoenix hadn't the slightest idea. It was the oddest thing.

Regardless, Maya's idea that Edgeworth join him and Hester (and Maya and Pearls, of course) for dinner was going about as well as Phoenix thought it would: badly. Edgeworth could and probably would have spent the entire evening glaring at Hester, if it weren't for the fact that Maya and Pearls' fantastic home-cooked meal was burning and Hester had rushed to the kitchen to help them, leaving Phoenix and Edgeworth sitting alone at the table, each refusing to meet the other's eyes.

"…so have you thought about attending the wedding yet?" Phoenix said to break the silence.

"Somewhat," Edgeworth said tersely.

"Are you coming or not?" Phoenix said, trying not to sound irritated.

"Perhaps," Edgeworth said, "if I'm not busy, I suppose."

Phoenix sighed. "Good. I didn't want to leave you out of the happiest day of my life."

"That woman will not bring you happiness," Edgeworth muttered, mostly to himself.

"What do you know about happiness?" Phoenix snapped, "you don't have any emotions other than 'smarmy' and 'annoyed'." Edgeworth glared at him, and Phoenix glared right back even if he knew it was nowhere near as bone-chilling or intimidating.

"It's saved!" Maya called suddenly, walking into the room with a pot of curry. Hester was carrying the rice, and Pearls had a pitcher of what looked like Kool-Aid.

"Smells good, too," Phoenix said, glad to have a reason to ignore Edgeworth's weird issues.

"It wasn't even burning as badly as Maya thought it was," Hester said lightly, "she's a much better cook than she gives herself credit for."

"Thanks, Hester," Maya said, smiling brightly as she put the curry on the table. "Well, let's eat!"

The curry tasted as good as it smelled, and apart from Edgeworth's repeated firm - yet technically polite - refusals to carry on a conversation with Hester, it went well. At least until Pearls mentioned Edgeworth's disappearance the past year. _Crap, he doesn't like talking about that_ , Phoenix thought, but before he could cut off the line of conversation, Hester said, "Oh, Phoenix told me all about that, Mr. Edgeworth. He was really hurt… I'm glad you came back."

"Are you now," Edgeworth said, gritting his teeth.

"He said it was… how did he phrase it?" Hester said, putting one finger on her lip thoughtfully, "he said it was like the light had gone out of his life." Wait, did he really phrase it like that? That wasn't important right now.

"Let's not talk about this," Phoenix said quickly, catching Edgeworth's grimace. Was that guilt he saw on his face?

"Yes, let's," Edgeworth grumbled.

"Sorry, Mr. Edgeworth," Pearls said, poking at her rice sadly.

"It's fine, Pearls," Edgeworth said, "just because I don't wish to discuss it does not mean that it never happened."

"Although I wish it hadn't," Phoenix mumbled to himself - oops. Didn't mean to say that out loud.

"You can't change the past, Wright," Edgeworth snapped, "so there's no point in discussing it."

"Yes, there is," Hester said defensively, and Phoenix wished that for once she wouldn't take his side in an argument, "haven't you ever heard of… what's the term? Haven't you ever heard of emotional closure?"

"Emotional closure?" Edgeworth scoffed.

"Sure!" Hester said, grabbing Phoenix's arm, "Phoenix needs it, but that's never going to happen as long as you keep pretending nothing happened…"

"I-It doesn't matter," Phoenix said quickly, "really, it's better to just forgive and forget, right?"

"Implying I wronged you somehow?" Edgeworth said testily.

"You almost ruined his life," Hester said. There were tears in her eyes.

"It's not a big deal," Phoenix murmured, "let's not talk about this, okay?"

"It was not my intention to ruin his life," Edgeworth said stiffly, "and by the time I got back, it was clear that he didn't mind my 'death'."

"But he didn't _actually_ hate you, Mr. Edgeworth," Hester said, "isn't that right, Phoenix?"

"Well, um, yeah," Phoenix said, cringing, "I was just kind of… mad at myself, and I took it out on you. But that was ages ago," he added quickly.

"It was only a few months ago!" Hester protested.

"It was before I met you," Phoenix reminded her.

"And I suppose you were mad at yourself because you blamed yourself," Edgeworth said drily.

"…that's exactly it, though," Phoenix said, looking away, "I really did think it was my fault at first. Or I guess the whole time if you want to get technical."

Edgeworth fell silent.

"Well, Mr. Edgeworth?" Hester said hesitantly.

"Well what?"

"Was it Phoenix's fault that you left in the first place?"

"Hester, please-" Phoenix started, but it was too late. Edgeworth stood up swiftly, his expression dark.

"Thank you for the meal, Maya," he said, bowing, then stalked out of the room without another word. The front door slammed.

"…no problem," Maya said, blinking.

"Ooh," Hester said, putting one hand over her mouth, "I'm sorry, Phoenix."

"It's fine," Phoenix said, sitting back in his chair. "I guess you're right about the whole 'emotional closure' thing."

"B-But we were trying to get Mr. Edgeworth to stop being so, what's the word? To stop being so catty, and I drove him away," Hester said tearfully.

"Nah. Edgeworth's just like that," Phoenix sighed, "he'll come around eventually."

There was a brief lull in conversation. "So, Pearly!" Maya said with awkwardly forced cheerfulness, "did you hear about the Steel Samurai live-action reboot?"

"No," Pearls said, surprised, "tell me more, Mystic Maya!"

As Maya and Pearls dragged Hester into their Steel Samurai conversation, Phoenix wondered vaguely if he should try chasing Edgeworth down, or at least calling him. _He probably doesn't want to talk_ , he thought, frowning slightly. But he'll come around eventually. Right?

* * *

 _August 28, 4:20 PM, Wright & Co. Law Offices_

"…I thought you were going to write up a guest list, Hester," Nick said. He and Hester were both sitting on the floor in the office, the wedding plans spread out between them. Maya was sitting with her feet up at Nick's desk, reading a manga and occasionally glancing at them.

Hester shrugged. "Almost everybody I know, you introduced me to in the first place."

"You don't have any friends beside that?" Maya said, raising her eyebrows.

"She's shy," Nick said defensively.

"I only moved to Los Angeles a few weeks before I met Phoenix, too," Hester added quietly.

"…and no living relatives, huh?" Maya said, turning back to her manga. Seemed like that was about par for the course with the people she knew.

"What about bridesmaids and stuff like that?" Nick was saying.

"Um," Hester said, "I'm not sure… Pearls would make a cute flowergirl, but I don't know beyond that…" She sighed, shuffling some papers around. "I don't think there's really any women I'm close enough to to have a maid of honor, anyway."

"We don't have to go by-the-book," Nick said.

There was a brief break in conversation. Maya turned a page, glancing up again. "Maya," Hester said, smiling in her unremarkable way, "would you mind being one of my bridesmaids?"

Inwardly, Maya made a face. She knew the ugly dress was inevitable - no one who had good taste had any business marrying Nick of all people. Outwardly, she grinned and said, "Sure, sounds like fun. Have you two come up with a date yet?"

"September 23rd," Nick said cheerfully. Maya raised her eyebrows again.

"That's awfully soon, Nick."

"We're trying to make sure it's not too, what's the word, complicated," Hester mumbled, "so the sooner, the better."

"I can't wait," Nick said, grinning down at the wedding plans. Maya rolled her eyes.

"Who's going to be your best man, Phoenix?" Hester said.

Nick's grin evaporated, and he sat back, sighing heavily. "I wanted Edgeworth, but he's still being weird about the whole thing, so Larry it is."

"Yep, your wedding's definitely going to be a disaster," Maya joked, not even looking back up from her manga.

"And we're lucky Edgeworth is coming at all…" Nick continued, ignoring Maya's snark. Maya gave him an odd look. Edgeworth hadn't spoken to Nick at all ever since the incident at dinner last week - why was Nick so sure he would still come to the wedding? Optimism at work, she supposed.

"What is his problem, anyway?" Hester said with a slight trace of irritation.

"He doesn't like you," Maya piped up.

"Yeah, we've gathered that," Nick said drily.

"He thinks you're evil," Maya continued, flipping the page of her manga idly.

"I… I know," Hester said quietly, "but I don't understand why…"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Maya said.

"He doesn't think you're _evil_ ," Nick said defensively, "he just… you know…"

Hester put her hand over Nick's. "I know," she said, "sometimes people can be like that, Phoenix. Give him time. He'll come around… right?"

Nick sighed deeply again, then smiled at Hester. "If he doesn't… I'll always have you, I guess." Maya rolled her eyes again and turned back to her manga.

* * *

 _September 6, 3:30 PM, High Prosecutor's Office_

The door creaked open. _I'll have to have Detective Gumshoe oil the hinges sometime_ , Edgeworth thought. "Yes?" he said without looking up.

"…Edgeworth…"

Edgeworth sighed and put down the case file he was looking over. "What brings you here, Wright? I thought you would have been too busy planning your wedding to take on any new clients."

"We need to talk, Edgeworth."

"We did talk," Edgeworth said stiffly, glaring at Wright. "Dinner at your place, remember?"

"That was two weeks ago. _More than_ two weeks ago," Wright said, "and you haven't said a single word to any of us since."

"I don't see why I need to."

Wright was silent for a moment. "Edgeworth-" he began.

"I don't want to talk," Edgeworth cut him off.

"Too bad."

"Get out of my office."

Wright didn't leave - but then, he didn't advance either. He simply stood just inside the doorway, his face a little more serious than Edgeworth was accustomed to. "Look, Edgeworth," he said, "I don't know what you don't like-"

" _Of course_ this is about Ms. Ioides," Edgeworth said sarcastically, leaning back in his chair and glaring at Wright, "of course."

"Yes," Wright said, "because soon she's going to be Mrs. Wright… and you seem pretty hard-pressed to accept that." Edgeworth didn't reply, so Wright continued. "Why don't you like her? What's your problem?"

"You wouldn't understand," Edgeworth said, turning his attention back to the case file.

"Try me."

Edgeworth looked back up. Wright still hadn't either retreated or advanced. "Get out of my office," he said again, glaring, "I'm working."

"Edgeworth, just _tell_ me-"

"Get out."

"Seriously-"

"Get out before I call security!"

Wright took a deep breath, then stepped back. "Please don't let my marriage change anything between us," he said quickly. With one last look, he closed the door. Edgeworth sighed and sat back in his chair, rubbing his eyes with his hands tiredly. _Idiot..._

* * *

 _September 22, 11:50 PM, Wonder Bar_

As the best man, Larry was in charge of the bachelor party. Phoenix counted himself lucky tonight: somehow, Larry had _not_ gotten it into his head that he should force Phoenix et al. to a strip club or someplace else like that. Instead, they had gone to a bar known for its variety shows - except for Saturday night, which was karaoke instead. Phoenix and his bottle of grape juice decided to slip away as soon as Detective Gumshoe started singing… something or other.

Phoenix wasn't all that shocked - although he should have been - to see Edgeworth leaning on the alley wall next to the side exit to the bar, looking up at the blank city starscape.

"Edgeworth," Phoenix said, leaning on the wall next to him and looking at his face. He was even more inscrutable than usual.

"Wright," Edgeworth said crisply, still looking at the sky.

"I'm surprised you came," Phoenix said, taking a swig from his bottle of grape juice. It was already mostly gone and his head was starting to swim a bit.

"Larry would have had my head if I didn't."

Pause. "So does this mean you're coming to the wedding after all?" Phoenix said.

"I never said I wasn't," Edgeworth said, his voice tight.

"Ah," Phoenix said, "well… good. I'm glad."

There was an uncomfortable silence. Phoenix wondered how long Edgeworth had been standing in the dark alley, and if he had been specifically waiting for Phoenix to show up.

"Don't you have any reservations?" Edgeworth said abruptly.

"Excuse me?"

"Any reservations about Ms. Ioides," Edgeworth elaborated, "you haven't known her all that long and I'd wager you don't know her all that well."

"I love her, Edgeworth," Phoenix said.

Edgeworth appeared to muse on this for a moment before muttering something about thick-headedness. "You realize that it's doomed to fail, don't you?"

"It's not," Phoenix said, and he knew he was just being stubborn now, but didn't really care. Actually, "why do you care?"

Edgeworth finally glanced at him. "Why do I… care?"

"Why do you care about what happens between Hester and I?" He felt his face break, unbidden, into a cynical half-smile. "After all, if we just ended up divorcing… wouldn't that solve your problem? You know, your problem with Hester?"

"…" Edgeworth looked away again. "If you got divorced, Wright, I'd be the last one to celebrate it."

"So it's not me getting _married_ that you hate. It's just Hester."

"Any other woman would have been fine, Wright," Edgeworth said measuredly, "yet you had to go for the mysterious ingénue. Why is that?"

"…she needs me," Phoenix said, "she doesn't have anyone else in the world but me."

Edgeworth glanced at him again, looking desperately like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. Finally he muttered, "I just don't think it'll end well, Wright."

"Is that it, huh," Phoenix said, taking another swig of grape juice. "You're worried about me getting my heart broken." He paused. "Maybe you should have thought of that a year ago." He knew as soon as he said it that he shouldn't have, but damn it, it needed to be said.

Edgeworth didn't say anything for a moment, then looked away again. "Why bring this up now?"

"Because we never really talked about it, apart from a few words after Engarde's trial. After that? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's like you don't even care."

"…why do we need to talk about it?"

Now Phoenix paused. He wasn't sure. The only thing he was sure about right now was that his mouth was dry and he was dizzy and something deep inside him was writhing, and that last one probably had nothing to do with the grape juice because it was actually metaphorical. He raised the bottle to his lips again and mumbled, "because… I'm scared, that's why."

Edgeworth looked at him again. "Scared?"

"Terrified," Phoenix said, "I'm terrified that one day… I'll wake up and find that you're gone, just like a year ago… except this time it'll be for real. And you won't come back." He rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "I don't know what I'd do."

"What did you do… last year?" Edgeworth said, his voice tight again.

Phoenix took a deep breath. "I… refused to believe it at first. I was sure the note was fake. I thought you were kidnapped… then I thought you were murdered… then I finally accepted that you committed suicide." He closed his eyes. "I spent fifteen years trying to save you, Edgeworth - everything I did, I did it to save you - and then you just…" He took another deep breath. He needed to clear his head but wasn't sure he wanted to. "I thought I failed. I failed you, and I failed myself… when I finally accepted what you wanted everyone to think, I - I…"

Edgeworth stood up straight, looking at Phoenix with traces of something like fear in his expression. "Wright…"

"…I almost followed you, Edgeworth."

* * *

 _September 23, 12:45 AM, Miles Edgeworth's House_

Wright had been the one drinking, but Edgeworth was the one who couldn't seem to clear his head.

 _"I almost followed you, Edgeworth."_ It kept playing and replaying in his mind. He felt sick to his stomach - he knew, he knew when he left how much pain Wright would be in, but at the time he thought it was the only way. Wright would only have chased him down again if he thought he was still alive. But this… it had never even occurred to him.

He tried to imagine Wright attempting suicide. He tried to imagine Wright waking up on the floor, cold, head pounding, stomach twisting, lungs burning, limbs weak; a mostly-empty bottle of sleeping pills next to him - knowing that if he closed his eyes now, he might never open them again… wondering if he should take this second chance or it wasn't worth it any more now than it was an hour ago. But… Edgeworth wasn't sure if his mind balked at it because it was (or he desperately wanted it to be) _impossible_ or because he felt so _guilty_.

Probably the latter, considering that as soon as Wright had dropped that bomb, Edgeworth had… well, he must have run. Perhaps at some point he had hailed a taxi. The point was, he was home now, lying on his couch, clutching himself and staring up at the ceiling in numb horror. He almost _killed_ Wright. He almost killed _Wright_ … and he had never intended to come back in the first place. He never would have even known.

The feeling of slowly sinking to the bottom of an endless, black ocean was not a new one to him, but right now the water pressure was getting to him.

The phone rang and Edgeworth's breath hitched. He pulled it out of his pocket and gave the caller ID a careful glance. _Wright…_

He let the phone ring for a while before accepting that Wright wasn't going to give up. He answered the call, but didn't say anything.

"…Edgeworth? Edgeworth, where are you?"

No response.

"E-Edgeworth… this is you, right? Am I talking to Miles Edgeworth?"

"…yes," Edgeworth said, finally finding his voice.

"Oh, thank God," Wright burst out, "where are you?"

"That doesn't matter."

"You… you didn't do anything… drastic, did you?"

"I'm fine, Wright."

There was a pregnant pause.

"…what I said really shook you, didn't it?" Wright said, so quietly the phone barely picked him up.

"You could say that," Edgeworth said with a listless attempt at acerbity.

"I'm… I'm sorry," Wright said, "I never planned on telling you - er, I mean…"

Edgeworth hesitated before saying, "you should have told me sooner."

"I didn't want you to worry about me," Wright said, "worry about yourself."

"I could tell you the same thing."

Another pregnant pause. "Where are you?" Wright said, "you… I couldn't keep up with you."

"I'm…" Edgeworth seriously debated whether or not he should disclose his location. "I'm at my house."

"Ah-"

"Don't come."

Silence from the other end of the line. "…why do you always run away from your problems?" Wright said. He sounded upset again.

 _I should just hang up_ , Edgeworth thought. "What do you mean, 'always run away'?"

"I… I called Franziska to invite her the wedding," Wright said, "she mentioned that you were planning on leaving the country again right after Engarde's trial."

"…I was," Edgeworth said at length, "but I didn't."

"But you were going to," Wright said, "and it's not that first time you've done something like that. And I don't just mean leaving the country."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You don't want to talk about anything."

"I'm glad you've figured that out, Wright."

There was a painful lull in conversation. "Why didn't you go?" Wright said.

Edgeworth didn't say anything for a while. _Because you met someone_ , he wanted to say, _and that someone could only be your downfall. That's why._

"Edgeworth?"

"Forget about it, Wright. You're getting married in the morning. Now is no time to be concerning yourself with my 'issues'."

"Edgeworth…"

"Get some sleep, Wright. Don't show up to your own wedding hungover." And he hung up.

He didn't pick up the phone again when Wright called back.

* * *

 _September 23, 12:45 PM, Long Beach Wedding Hall_

Why exactly Phoenix Wright had extended an invitation to Franziska von Karma of all people was beyond her. Why exactly she had _accepted_ the invitation, flew all the way back to America from Germany, and was now sitting in the little crowd next to Miles Edgeworth was also beyond her. Perhaps she was interested in what sort of fool would deign to marry Phoenix Wright - she had heard plenty about this Hester Ioides woman from Miles. He certainly seemed to dislike her.

Apart from the issue of the bride, the wedding seemed to be going well. The flowergirl seemed upset about the whole thing and the bridesmaid dress was a crime against Maya Fey's complexion. The best man was an absolute fool who had spent the whole ceremony so far leering at various women in the audience, which curiously enough did not include any members of the Wright family (perhaps there were none?). Speaking of the audience, Adrian Andrews was here. Franziska decided that she ought to do some catching up during the reception.

But before the reception, there were still all the vows and such to sit through. Quite frankly, Franziska didn't care very much. She had to admit that the look on Phoenix Wright's face when Hester Ioides walked down the aisle was endearing in its own, foolish way, but her attention was immediately drawn away by Miles shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Sit still, Miles Edgeworth," she instructed him in a whisper.

A minute later, he stirred again. "I need to step out for a minute," he muttered to Franziska, then he - unobtrusively, of course - edged out of the room. Franziska rolled her eyes.

The minister was still droning on and on. Franziska had never liked weddings, anyway. She had actually fallen asleep at her older sister's wedding some years ago… she was threatening to go the same way now.

"-therefowe," the minister was drawling, "if anyone has any objections to this union, let them speak now or fowever hold their peace."

"OBJECTION!"

The whole congregation turned as one to the room's entrance - and the open door which framed Miles Edgeworth, pointing dramatically at the minister. His eyes were serious. _Well_ , Franziska thought, smirking, _this should be interesting_. However, she did not expect what he said next:

"There's been a murder!"

* * *

 **So yeah, obviously this takes place just before Trials and Tribulations and it touches (a lot) on Edgeworth's fake suicide in Justice for All. So... yeah.**

 **Also, yes, the minister was a reference to The Princess Bride.**


	2. Chapter 2

_September 23, 1:05 PM, Long Beach Wedding Hall_

The wedding had been thrown into complete disarray. The police had been summoned (which meant Gumshoe had left) and the crowd had broken up into little chattery clumps, the largest of which – the one that Maya was a part of – centered around Edgeworth. Everyone wanted to know what had happened – who died? Where was the body? But why? When? How?

Needless to say, no one was getting married today. Maya was sure that Pearly would be pleased at that, but instead she yelled, "You interrupted the wedding before Mystic Maya could steal Mr. Nick away at the altar!" and slapped Edgeworth.

"I was planning on doing that?" Maya commented.

"Apparently," Nick replied.

"Mr. Edgeworth, Mr. Edgeworth," a girl about Maya's age – a friend of Nick's, what was her name again? Emma Sky? – was saying, "tell us what happened!"

Edgeworth paused for a moment before sighing and saying, "Will Powers is dead."

"What?" Nick said, "Will Powers?"

"He was stabbed. I found his body in a closet."

"Who would want to stab Mr. Powers?!" Maya demanded.

"When did he die?" Pearly said, chewing on her thumbnail.

"Rigor mortis had already set in," Edgeworth said, "so most likely a few hours ago."

"But… all day there hasn't been anyone here except for people who are, how to phrase it? - are related to the wedding," Hester said, crossing her arms tightly.

"Will Powers was a guest, was he not?" Edgeworth replied coolly.

"Yeah," Nick said, "He said he was looking forward to it. I was wondering why he didn't show up, actually."

"Then most likely the killer is someone related to the wedding," Edgeworth declared. The Emma Sky girl muttered something that sounded like, "sooooo cool…"

"R-Related to the wedding…?" Hester said hesitantly.

"Either a guest or one of the staff," Nick said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Who do you think it was, Pearly?" Maya asked.

Pearly shrugged. "Maybe it was one of the kay-ter-rers."

"Who could possibly have a reason to stab Mr. Powers, though?" Nick said, "he's the last person in the world someone would want to kill."

"Maybe it was a random death," Emma said.

"…maybe… maybe someone did it to stop the wedding," Hester said quietly, looking down at her hands.

"Why would someone want to stop the wedding?" Nick said.

"Or at least want it enough to kill someone," Maya whispered. Pearly made a face like she wasn't sure if she was supposed to laugh or not.

"It is as solid a motive as anything else," Franziska said, walking up. She was followed by a blonde woman Maya had never seen before.

"But who in their right mind would want to stop the wedding?" Nick repeated himself.

"Hmm," said Franziska, "Hester Ioides. You appear to be dwelling on this. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?"

"…m… um," Hester said, nervously clutching herself, "well, I did have an idea…"

"Ooh, do tell," Maya said.

"I – I think it could only have been… Mr. Edgeworth," Hester said, looking aside, "I mean, he did leave during the ceremony; maybe that's when he did it. And we already know that he doesn't want Phoenix and I to get married… Yes," she said, firing up in a way that Maya found particularly unimpressive, "Mr. Edgeworth! You killed Mr. Powers in order to stop the wedding!"

There was brief silence in which the only response from the collected group was Edgeworth raising his eyebrows slightly. Then Nick smiled kindly and put a hand on Hester's shoulder. "Don't be ridiculous," he said, "Edgeworth just said that rigor mortis already set in. It was impossible for the murder to happen during the ceremony."

"Then he did it earlier," Hester insisted. Was that a note of hysteria Maya detected?

"But Mr. Edgeworth would never kill someone!" Emma said.

"And if he did, he wouldn't use a knife to do it," Maya joked.

"Yeah, he'd be more likely to use a gun, I think," Nick said, "or poisoning."

"Definitely poisoning," Maya said.

"What do you think, Mr. Edgeworth?" Pearly said.

"Why are we having this conversation?" Edgeworth said, still as unamused as he had been when Hester accused him.

"B-But-" Hester started again.

"If he wanted to stop the wedding, would Miles Edgeworth not be more likely to kill _you_?" Franziska said haughtily, "it seems to me that all of his problems with the marriage revolve around your involvement in it…"

"Really, why are we having this conversation?" Edgeworth said. Meanwhile, Hester was looking at the floor, clearly frustrated.

The conversation continued along more or less those lines for a while, with Maya only half-listening. She noticed that Nick and Edgeworth kept glancing at each other, like there was something that happened between the two of them that they weren't sure if it happened or not. At least that the impression she got from Nick's face, anyway. He was easy to read like that. Maya wondered if Edgeworth had shown up at the bachelor party the night before, and also what exactly guys _did_ at bachelor parties, anyway. Hester's bachelorette party had consisted of a chick flick and some awkward conversation. Also cupcakes.

Those were some pretty good cupcakes.

Maya's thoughts of cupcakes were rudely interrupted by some teenaged kid with a very loud voice saying, "That's her! I'm sure that's her!" She turned out. Said teenage kid had brown hair with funky spikes in front, a huge forehead, and an interesting bracelet, and was also pointing at her.

"Who am I now?" Maya said as Gumshoe, who was with the kid (was this someone from one of the [few] cases Nick handled without her?), wandered over, looking unusually dour.

"Um, Maya," Gumshoe said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, "we have an eyewitness here who says that you might have been, um… involved in the murder, pal."

"Involved!" the kid said, taken aback, "she did it, Detective! I saw her!"

"Saw me?" Maya said incredulously, "saw me do what?"

"What's going on?" Nick said, now that the whole cluster's attention had been thoroughly diverted to the imminent arrest. Because who was Maya kidding-

"I'm getting arrested again," Maya groaned, putting a hand over her eyes.

"Sorry, pal," Gumshoe said.

"Phoenix, who's this?" Hester said, tilting her head towards the eyewitness, who immediately hid behind Gumshoe, "Are any of your friends old enough to have a child this age?"

"Maybe Larry's new girlfriend?" Nick said distractedly, "didn't he mention she had a kid already?"

"That was the last one," Edgeworth said.

"Wait, when did Larry and Loreen break up?" Maya said, "who's this new girl?" She looked over at Larry, on the other side of the room, with a sexy brunette hanging off of his arm. She didn't look like a mother.

"I thought her name was Cissie," Hester said.

"No, it's Wynonna," Nick said.

"It's Anastasia," Edgeworth said, "which doesn't sound similar to either Cissie _or_ Wynonna, you pair of imbeciles." Okay, that last part was only implicit.

"Mr. Nick!" Pearly yelled suddenly. "Are you going to defend Maya or not?!" Wait, had she been trying to get their attention?

"Of course I am," Nick said.

"Now that that's settled," Gumshoe said, "you'll have to come with me, Maya."

Maya sighed deeply. Couldn't they just go back to talking about Anastasia? "Okay sure, Detective… but could someone stop by the office and bring me my channelling robes or pajamas or something? I don't want to stay in the detention center dressed like this…"

"I'll handle that," Nick promised, "is the crime scene ready for investigation yet?"

"We need to find out who's prosecuting first, pal," Gumshoe said apologetically.

"I'll handle that," Edgeworth said, and left swiftly. A little _too_ swiftly, Maya thought. Maybe something really _did_ happen at the bachelor party last night!

* * *

 _September 23, 4:45 PM, Long Beach Wedding Hall_

In true LAPD fashion, the all-important eyewitness had been whisked away before Phoenix got the chance to talk to him. However, he already got the gist of it: he had seen Maya commit the murder. Somehow. There would inevitably be a lot of holes in his story, and not just because he looked like he was maybe twelve. So Phoenix was feeling pretty confident on that front.

The confident feeling faded when he got the chance to take a look at Will Power's body. _Poor Mr. Powers_ , he thought sadly. He had been stabbed in the chest - about at arm-height for a short woman, which didn't really help Maya much - and then shoved awkwardly in the hall closet, where rigor mortis had frozen him in a painful-looking twisted position. The knife had been removed, getting now-dried blood not only all over the closet but all down the front and side of Powers' orange tuxedo - Phoenix recognized it as the same one that he had worn to the Hero of Heroes Grand Prix ceremony. He felt a twinge at the memory of that. Better not to think about that right now.

"What exactly is the time of death?" Phoenix asked the nearby labbie.

"We're guessing 'round eight or nine, maybe even as late as ten-thirty," the labbie said, "definitely before noon. But we're still waiting for someone to come get the body for the autopsy."

"Hmm," Phoenix said, "the wedding started at noon, and everyone was seated ten minutes before that…" he rubbed his chin, thinking, "and the only person missing at that point was Mr. Powers." _And Edgeworth_ , he thought, realizing that Edgeworth had slipped in five minutes late, much to Franziska's chagrin.

"Maybe it was actually a bit closer to the start of the wedding," Ema said thoughtfully, appearing from nowhere at Phoenix's side. "Mr. Wright, did you know that rigor mortis sets in faster if the dead guy was exercising right before he died?"

"Mr. Powers was a pretty sweaty guy," Phoenix said, nodding.

"Oh, we took that into account," the labbie said.

"Okay," Ema said, a little crestfallen. "Hey, what other evidence do you have against Maya?"

"Um," the labbie said, "dunno if I'm allowed to tell you that…"

"Just a hint?" Phoenix said, pulling out the ol' puppy-dog eyes.

"Let's just say her fingerprints have been found in some pretty inconvenient places, Wright."

Phoenix and Ema turned around. Edgeworth was standing in the hallway behind him, looking remarkably unruffled for a self-proclaimed "big fan" of Will Powers'.

"Edgeworth," Phoenix said, frowning, "you're prosecuting?"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I?"

"I thought Maya was your friend!" Ema said.

"I don't really know her all that well."

"You know her well enough to know that she would never stab anyone," Phoenix pointed out, "let alone stab _the_ _Steel Samurai_."

Edgeworth glared at him for half a moment before saying, "we'll see how this turns out, Wright. Do you want to hear about the fingerprints or not?"

"What are you-"

"Let's hear about the fingerprints, Mr. Edgeworth, please," Ema said, a little too loudly.

Edgeworth gave a single nod. "Both the cake knife and the cart that the caterers used to transport the cake were found to have traces of Powers' blood on them. The handles of both of them had Maya's fingerprints."

"No way," Ema breathed. Phoenix threw up his hands irritably.

"Were they smudged, or-"

"They were clean," Edgeworth said, "no one seems have touched them after Maya did."

"That's not good," Ema mumbled.

"No, it's not," Edgeworth said, turning and beginning to walk away, "nor is the statement I managed to get out of your wife, Wright. Oh, sorry - your fiancée, still."

"That was a low blow, Edgeworth!" Phoenix yelled at his back.

* * *

 _September 23, 7:00 PM, Detention Center_

Since Nick was busy with the crime scene, Pearly had taken it upon herself to bring Maya her spirit channelling robes. And since Pearly wasn't allowed to wander around Los Angeles on her own, she had channelled Mia. Maya was not complaining about that. She was, however, complaining about the fact that Nick was taking _so long_ with the crime scene.

"C'mon, doesn't he have to talk to his client sometime?" Maya said, puffing her cheeks out angrily.

"Maybe there's a lot of evidence," Mia said.

"Not helping, sis."

"She's right, though," Nick sighed, leaning against the doorway. "Your fingerprints are all over everything - Maya, why are your fingerprints all over everything?"

"…define 'everything'," Maya said evasively, "Where's Hester?"

"Yes, Phoenix, where's Hester?" Mia said, "I still haven't met her."

"I know, I know," Nick said, standing next to Mia, who didn't bother getting out of the sole chair, "I couldn't find her. I need to ask her about…"

"About what?" the Fey sisters said simultaneously.

"Apparently Edgeworth got a statement out of her," Nick said, touching the back of his neck sheepishly.

Mia raised her eyebrows. "She's testifying against Maya tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Nick sputtered, "well - it's just a statement, not-"

"I knew I couldn't trust her," Maya joked. Nick glared at her. "Sorry. Sore spot?"

"Nevermind," he sighed. "Maya, why exactly were your fingerprints all over the knife and the cart used to move the body?"

"Beats me," Maya said.

"What else were they used for?" Mia said evenly. Nick explained, then he and Mia both looked at Maya expectantly.

"I didn't try to steal some of the cake before the wedding!" Maya protested, "why would you even think that?!"

"…no one even suggested it, Maya," Mia said, smirking.

"Whoops," Maya said. Nick facepalmed.

"Are you going to be ready for the trial tomorrow, Phoenix?" Mia said.

"Of course," Nick said, "Edgeworth's prosecuting, by the way."

"Raise your hand if you saw that coming," Maya said, raising her hand. Nick and Mia ignored her.

"He's up to something," Mia said.

"That's pretty obvious," Nick said, crossing his arms, "so that's what worries me. We can," he hesitated slightly, just long enough to be noticeable, "trust him to help me get you acquitted, Maya, because he already knows that no matter what the evidence seems to say right now, you're totally innocent."

"Totally," Maya said.

Mia frowned. "So what _is_ he up to?"

* * *

 _September 23, 11:15 PM, Long Beach Wedding Hall_

"Good question," Miles said.

"That is not an answer, Miles Edgeworth," Franziska snapped, also snapped her whip.

"What makes you think I'm up to something?" Miles said, "do I _need_ to have some sort of ulterior motive for taking a case?"

"When Phoenix Wright is involved, yes," Franziska said, "moreover, you do not seem to believe that Maya Fey is the true culprit."

"What makes you say that?" Miles said, craning his head to look up at her.

"The fact that you are currently on your hands and knees, scouring every inch of this building looking for more evidence," Franziska said haughtily.

"And?" Miles said, standing up and brushing his pants off with gloved hands.

"And your current case against Maya Fey is almost perfect."

" _Almost_ perfect," Miles said, "as you say so yourself."

Franziska scoffed. "I only say 'almost' because Phoenix Wright is involved."

"Exactly."

"But you know Maya Fey."

Miles looked at her evenly. "Do _you_ think she is the true culprit?"

Franziska paused. "…what I think is irrelevant."

"I didn't say your opinion was necessary, I merely asked what it was."

Franziska paused again, much longer this time. "No," she said slowly, "actually, I do not think that Maya Fey would kill anyone, even if she harbored a great dislike towards them."

"There's also the problem of motive," Miles said, "Powers was Maya's hero. There are few circumstances in which she would feel inclined to stab him, and none of them are very likely to happen in the first place."

"Hell hath no fury like an otaku scorned," Franziska pointed out. Miles glared at her. She glared back. "What of the fingerprints, Miles Edgeworth? The eyewitness testimony? The bride's statement?"

"I'd call them a little too perfect," Miles said.

"Well, who else could it have possibly been?" Franziska said, losing patience.

Miles looked pensively towards the altar where, almost twelve hours ago, Phoenix Wright had very nearly become a married man. "Who else, indeed…"

* * *

 **I think this is the shortest chapter of the fic. Trial starts next chapter. Be prepared.**

 **By the by, all of Larry's girlfriends were name after random artists on my iTunes playlist. Mostly electric swing artists, if I remember correctly.**


	3. Chapter 3

_September 24, 9: 50 AM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby No. 2_

"Alright Nick, who's ready to kick some butt?" Maya said, raising her fists in the air. Nick just grunted. "Awww, what's wrong, Nick?"

"He hasn't seen Ms. Hester since the wedding," Pearly said.

"Oh," Maya said, "maybe sis was right about her testifying against me." Nick sighed deeply. "Anyway, Pearly, are you helping Nick out? You know he can't do anything on his own."

"Excuse you," Nick said.

Pearly shook her head. "No, I think Mr. Nick's friend Ema is supposed to be helping him out, since she was helping him during the investigation."

"Oh. Science girl, right?" Maya said.

"Right!" Ema chirped, running into the defendant's lobby. "Six minutes to spare! Not late!"

"Uh… don't get me found guilty, okay?" Maya said. Ema gave her a thumbs up.

* * *

 _September 24, 10:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom No. 2_

"Court is now in session for the trial of Maya Fey," the Judge said. "Hmm… this is getting to be an annual thing with you, isn't it, Ms. Fey?"

"The defense is ready, your Honor," Phoenix said, striking that last remark from his mental record.

"The prosecution is ready as well, your Honor," Edgeworth said. Phoenix narrowed his eyes at him. What _was_ he up to?

"Remember what Maya said," Ema, next to Phoenix, said, "'Don't make this trial about your weird issues!'"

"She actually said, 'Don't let _Edgeworth_ make this trial about _his_ weird issues,' but okay," Phoenix said.

"Incidentally, Mr. Wright," the Judge said, "I'm sorry that this sort of thing had to mess up your wedding - I must say it was a lovely ceremony other than that. I'll be expecting a notification for when you re-do it, ha ha!"

"Uh… thank you, and of course, your Honor."

The Judge nodded. "Mr. Edgeworth, your opening statement, please."

"In the hours before an ill-advised wedding yesterday, children's actor Will Powers was stabbed with a cake knife and stuffed into a closet at the Long Beach Wedding Hall. His body was discovered towards the end of the ceremony. The defendant was arrested not long after that, following an eye-witness statement from a guest who had seen the whole thing."

" _Ill-advised wedding"?_ Phoenix thought, exasperated, _he really_ is _going to make this trial about his weird issues!_

"I see," said the Judge.

"The prosecution calls Detective Gumshoe to the stand to outline the nature of the evidence further found." Gumshoe took the stand. "Witness, name and occupation for the record."

"He almost sounds like he's on auto-pilot," Ema commented to Phoenix. Phoenix shrugged.

"Dick Gumshoe, homicide detective at the local precinct," Gumshoe said, his kicked-puppy expression silently adding, "and friend of Maya Fey."

"Please tell the court the evidence found against the defendant."

"Okay, sir," Gumshoe said reluctantly, "in addition to the eyewitness testimony, we also have testimony from the bride that gives the defendant the opportunity to commit the murder. As far as material evidence goes, we have her fingerprints on both the weapon and the cart used to move the body, and bloodstains on her clothing."

"Ooh," Ema said quietly, "that sounds really bad, doesn't it, Mr. Wright?"

"A little bit, yeah," Phoenix said.

"Mr. Wright," the Judge said, "you may begin your cross-examination whenever your conversation with your assistant is complete."

"Sorry, your Honor," Phoenix said, then cleared his throat. "Detective, what do you mean by 'the opportunity to commit the murder'-?"

Edgeworth cut him off before Gumshoe could answer. "That's a question you should save for the bride."

Phoenix grimaced. So she really _was_ testifying…

"Buck up, Mr. Wright," Ema said, "it could be worse."

"Yeah," Phoenix muttered, "at least one of us could be on fire. Detective," he went on in a normal volume, "just to be clear, you know that the caterers' cake cart was used to move the body because of the blood on it, right?"

"Yup," Gumshoe said, "Mr. Powers was actually killed in a completely separate room, then loaded up and moved to a hall closet."

"And why was he moved?"

"I guess the murderer thought that the room he was killed in was more likely to be used than the hall closet, pal."

"It's worth noting that it wasn't obvious that a murder had taken place in that room," Edgeworth said, "as the knife was still in the body was it was being moved."

"Which means that not much blood would have been spilled!" Ema added helpfully.

Phoenix rubbed his chin. "How exactly _was_ the body discovered?"

"Yes, who discovered it?" the Judge said.

"That would be me, your Honor," Edgeworth said. He continued to be the very model of emotionless professionalism.

"And how exactly did that go down?" Phoenix said.

"I wasn't aware that the prosecution could be cross-examined."

"Humor me, Edgeworth. For the record."

Edgeworth sighed almost imperceptibly. "I had no desire to sit through the 'I do' portion of the ceremony, so I stepped out. I walked around a bit to stretch my legs and in doing so passed the hall closet and noticed a bit of blood seeping out from under the door; the jostling involved in moving the body from the cake cart to the closet must have dislodged the knife from its wound enough for some leaking to occur."

"And then you ran back and interrupted the ceremony."

"Yes, well, your marriage would probably have been cursed if you had exchanged vows with a corpse in the building."

"You thought it was cursed anyway," Phoenix snarked under his breath. " _Anyway_ , Detective Gumshoe, can you elaborate a bit on the bloodstains found on Maya's clothing?"

"Sure, pal," Gumshoe said, "the bloodstained clothing was actually her channeling robes. They were found folded up in the room where she got ready for the ceremony, so I guess she changed out of them and into her bridesmaid dress."

"So you're claiming that Maya changed into her bridesmaid dress _after_ -" Phoenix checked the autopsy report. "9:30?"

"Did you see her in her dress before that?" Ema asked.

Phoenix frowned and shook his head. "Just because I didn't see her doesn't mean she didn't change before Powers was murdered, though. Maya isn't the only on who can wear those robes."

"Good point," Gumshoe said at the same time Edgeworth said, "that'd be a nice thing to keep in mind if we had some way of proving that she did change before the murder."

"Uh…" Phoenix said, sweating. He knew what he was being baited to ask, but obviously it was a trap. Then again, Edgeworth was unquestionably up to something, so…

"Just trust him, Mr. Wright," Ema whispered, "Even if you're just along for the ride this whole trial, it's fine, because he also thinks that Maya didn't do it, right?"

"Right…" Phoenix sighed. "Mr. Edgeworth. Do you have some way of proving that the defendant changed into the bridesmaid dress _after_ the murder?"

Edgeworth finally showed some kind of emotion, or at least expression: a smirk. "First, do you have any more questions for Detective Gumshoe?"

"No…"

"Then he is dismissed." Gumshoe left the stand. He looked troubled. "The prosecution calls Hester Ioides to the stand."

Phoenix groaned as Hester took the stand. Yeah, sure, Edgeworth was probably working towards fingering a suspect other than Maya, but he was apparently also trying to make Phoenix's life hell while he was at it.

"Witness, name and occupation."

"H… Hester Ioides, or rather, Hester Wright…"

"Or close enough to it, anyway," the Judge said.

"The ceremony was interrupted before it could be made official," Edgeworth said evenly.

"And whose fault is that?" Phoenix muttered. Ema rolled her eyes.

"Witness, please tell the court what you told me about the defendant's activities during the preparation for the wedding."

Hester grimaced and looked apologetically at Phoenix. Was it because she was testifying against Maya, or because she had gone to Edgeworth with it…? He shook his head slightly, hoping she would catch his 'Don't worry about it' meaning.

"Well," she said, "at the beginning of the, ah, what's the- the wedding prep, Maya and I were together; I was helping her get her makeup done. Then around nine, no, 8:45, she and I went to separate rooms to change into our respective dresses. I didn't see her again until around ten, and she was wearing her bridesmaid dress then."

"Incidentally, the defendant gave the same story when questioned," Edgeworth said.

"Yeah, but I was in my dress by 8:50! And I left the room after that!" Maya yelled from the defendant box.

"Ms. Fey!" the Judge said reproachfully, "you should know better!"

"Sorry, your Honor, but it's true!"

"Anyway," Edgeworth said smoothly, "as you can see, there is a window of time in which the defendant's whereabouts - and manner of clothing - is entirely unaccounted for."

"O-Objection!" Phoenix said, "uh…"

"Do you actually have an objection?" Ema whispered.

"No, not really…" Phoenix whispered back. "But- I'd like to ask the defendant a few things about her side of the story!"

"What about Ms. Ioides' cross-examination?" the Judge said.

Phoenix gulped. "I don't think I need to cross-examine her, your Honor." Edgeworth narrowed his eyes.

"Very well," said the Judge, "Ms. Fey, please take the stand."

"Witness, name and occupation," Edgeworth sighed.

"Maya Fey, ace spirit medium and manager at Wright and Co. Law Offices!"

 _I swear she just gave herself a promotion_ , Phoenix thought.

"Witness," Edgeworth said, "please-"

"Alright, right, so," Maya said quickly, "Hester was helping me put on my makeup for the wedding, since I can't really do it myself since I look good _without_ makeup, so I don't wear it very often, but we were done with that around 8:45, so we went into separate rooms to go get changed. It only took me, like, five minutes to change, so I left the room after that. I left my channeling robes in there, so _anyone_ could have worn them while murdering Mr. Powers! …or maybe they used them to clean up blood?"

"Hmm," said the Judge, "well, Mr. Wright, your cross-examination, please."

"Alright, Maya," Phoenix said, "if you left your room around nine and the murder took place around 9:30… did you hear or see anything?"

"No," Maya said sheepishly, "I was on the other side of the building."

"Let me guess, you were in the kitchen?" Ema said.

Maya's cheeks puffed out. "That cake looked _delicious!_ I just _had_ to try a tiny slice!"

"Maya, that was a wedding cake!" Phoenix said. "You're not supposed to cut it before the reception!"

"That doesn't matter now because there never was a reception," Edgeworth interrupted. Phoenix glared at him. _Yeah, rub it in, why don't you?_

"Wait," the Judge said, "Ms. Fey, you claim you were in the kitchen at the time of the murder?"

"Before the murder, actually," Maya said, "I was only in the kitchen for, I dunno, a minute? As soon as I picked up the knife, one of the caterers happened to walk in, and he chased me off before I could get some cake…"

"Well, that's good," Ema said.

"Actually, that's bad," Phoenix said, shaking his head, "because if the cake had actually been cut, then it would back up Maya's explanation as to why her fingerprints were on the cake knife and cart."

"Oh."

"The cake was, in fact, not actually cut," Edgeworth said, "but on the other hand, the caterer in question left right after the defendant did, so he didn't witness her, say, removing the knife from the kitchen."

"Regardless!" Phoenix said, "the defense would like to propose that the defendant's fingerprints were left on the knife and cart _well before_ the murder, and the true killer used gloves! Additionally, her robes were stolen while she was trying to sneak some cake!"

"You don't have any evidence to back up this theory, do you, Mr. Wright?" the Judge said tiredly.

"It seems like the kind of thing that would happen to Maya!"

"Hey!"

"The prosecution has no evidence that contradicts this theory," Edgeworth said abruptly. "At this point, it could go either way, especially since the defendant has no proven - or even speculated - motive."

"Huh," Ema commented, "he must have something up his sleeve."

"Something good, I hope," Phoenix grumbled.

"Your Honor, I have one more witness to call."

The Judge nodded. "Of course. You may call him after the recess." He banged his gavel.

* * *

 _September 24, 11:30 AM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby No. 2_

"Phoenix!"

"Hester- oof."

"I'm sorry, Phoenix," Hester cried into his arms, "I'm sorry I testified against your friend, but - Mr. Edgeworth, he made me!"

Phoenix held her comfortingly. "Hester, I thought Edgeworth said _you_ came to _him_."

Hester sniffed. "I just wanted to know… what kind of case he had against Maya… I thought that telling him where she was at the time of the murder would help her."

"Well," Phoenix said with a sigh, "I mean, since she really didn't do it, the truth will help her in the end, just…"

"Ohh, I shouldn't have told him anything…"

"Wouldn't that be obstruction of justice?" Ema said.

Hester was quiet for a moment, her brow furrowing. "Oh yeah," she said softly.

"Okay, Nick," Maya said, completely ignoring Hester, "Edgeworth's next witness is totally gonna be that kid who pointed me out to Gumshoe."

"Most likely," Phoenix said. (He was still holding Hester.) "And since everything else is essentially circumstantial…"

"…we only need to tear his testimony apart, and then we win!" Ema said.

"Yeah," Maya said, holding a hand up to her face pensively, "except we still need to find the real killer, and I _really_ don't think it's that kid."

Phoenix nodded. "That's got to be what Edgeworth's leading up to."

"You think he suspects someone?" Hester said, brow still furrowed.

"That's probably why he took this case in the first place," Maya said brightly. "He knows it wasn't me!"

"Yeah," Ema said, "but… well, who _does_ he think is the real killer?"

* * *

 _September 24, 11:45 AM, District Court, Courtroom No. 2_

"Court is now back in session for the trial of Maya Fey."

"The prosecution calls Apollo Justice to the stand."

A teenaged boy with an interesting-looking bracelet and a huge forehead took the stand.

"Witness, name and occupation."

"I'm Apollo Justice and I'm - a sophomore in high school," he said in a loud, puberty-cracked voice.

 _I don't remember putting him on the guest list_ , Phoenix thought, frowning, _who is this kid?_

"To get the preliminaries out of the way," Edgeworth said, "I have to ask: you weren't on the guest list for the wedding. Why exactly were you there?"

"Wow, Mr. Edgeworth's really on top of things," Ema commented.

"Well, uh," Apollo said, "I-I'm kind of a big fan of Mr. Wright… he's almost a living legend, so I…"

"Mr. Wright, please pick your jaw up off the floor," Edgeworth said with a slight smirk. Phoenix composed himself. He had _fans?_

"A-A-Anyway, when I heard that Mr. Wright was getting married, uh… my friend Clay kind of convinced me it would be a good idea to borrow a tuxedo from one of the orchestra members and sneak in…"

"O… kaayyy," Phoenix said, wondering if he was supposed to laugh or not.

"And what time did you sneak in at?" Edgeworth said.

"Around 9:30. I wasn't sure when the ceremony actually started."

"So you were… wandering around in the wedding hall around the time the murder took place?" Phoenix said.

"Y-Yes… sir."

"And you saw something at that time," Edgeworth said, "please relate it to the court."

"Well," Apollo said, taking a deep breath, "I didn't see the murder itself, but I _did_ see the murderer. I saw them waking through the hallway, covered in blood - and it was the defendant!" he shouted.

"How frightening!" the Judge said, "and for someone your age to see, too!"

"Um, I'm fifteen, your Honor…"

"Anyway, Mr. Wright, your cross-examination."

Phoenix nodded. "First, I'd like to clear things up a bit," he said, "witness, you said the person you saw was 'covered in blood', but the channeling robes worn by the murder don't actually have much blood on them." The held them up to show the witness, who seemed remarkably unfazed by the bloodstains.

"I guess 'covered' in blood is too strong a word," Apollo said sheepishly, "although there's enough blood on it that there's a bloodstain on the back of it."

"Oh, so there is," Phoenix said, looking at it. He put the robes down. "Anyway, witness - how did you know there was a bloodstain on the back of the robes?"

"I saw the murderer from behind."

" _Only_ behind?"

"Yes, sir."

"So you didn't see her face?"

"Yessir."

Phoenix put his hands on his hips triumphantly. "So," he said, grinning, "even the eyewitness can't prove it's Maya, if he didn't see her face!"

"Witness," Edgeworth said coolly, "please describe the murderer in greater detail."

"Well," Apollo said, pressing his finger to his forehead in thought, "she was wearing the 'robes', and had long black hair, and she was, uh," he glanced towards the defendant's box nervously, "kind of… on the… curvy side?"

"Hey!" Maya said, "I'll have you know I'm all muscle!"

"Ms. Fey!" the Judge said sternly.

"It's funny because being all muscle would make her heavier than if she were actually fat," Ema said cheerfully.

"Witness," Phoenix said, ignoring his friends' antics, "about her hair - was it up in a topknot? You should have been able to tell that from the back."

"It's not a topknot, Nick," Maya said, just loud enough for him to hear.

Apollo shook his head. "Her hair was down."

"That's weird," Phoenix said, hands on his hips again, "she wearing it in a topknot both before and during the wedding. Did she take it down, then put it back up?"

"Mr. Wright, she said it wasn't a topknot," Ema said.

"It's not outside the realm of possibility," Edgeworth said.

"Couldn't be for a disguise, since the channeling robes are involved," Phoenix retorted.

Edgeworth rolled his eyes. "Remember, Wright, during the wedding itself, the color of her hair ornaments was different than normal, since they had to match her bridesmaid dress, not her channeling robes."

"I fixed my hair after I changed into my dress, though," Maya said, "and I didn't take it down until then - I didn't even leave the room I was fixing my hair in until I had put it back up!"

"That is not admissible testimony," the Judge said, banging his gavel. Maya groaned exaggeratedly.

"Witness," Phoenix said, turning back to the witness stand, "is there anything else you remember about the murderer? Anything at all?"

"Um…" Apollo thought for a while, "oh yeah - she was my height."

Phoenix looked between Maya and Apollo, raising his eyebrows. "Witness, how tall are you?"

"165 centimeters."

 _Hopefully the poor kid isn't done growing yet_ , Phoenix thought, then said, "The defendant is 154 centimeters! You're taller than her!"

"Way to rub it in, Mr. Wright," Ema said.

"There's nothing wrong with a woman being shorter than a man, even if he is four years younger than her," Phoenix said.

"Also, it's a moot point anyway," Edgeworth said, "since the defendant's bridesmaid outfit included shoes with ten-centimeter heels."

 _Shoot_. Although that did explain why Apollo pointed her out later - she would have been the same height then as the woman he had seen in the hallway. "Witness, was she wearing these shoes when you saw her?"

"No," Apollo said at length.

"No?"

"She was barefoot."

Phoenix smiled confidently. "So she was barefoot, yet you're sure that she was your height?"

"I'm absolutely sure!" Apollo screeched.

"Your Honor, this proves it!" Phoenix shouted, pointing dramatically, "Maya is ten centimeters too short to be the murderer! The real killer is someone much taller! And all other evidence against the defendant is ultimately circumstantial!"

"I can honestly say I'm not very surprised," the Judge said, "Mr. Edgeworth. Does the prosecution have any objections to this conclusion?"

"None, your Honor," Edgeworth said. The Judge blinked.

"Now I _am_ surprised," he said, "still… in that case, I would like to hand down my verdict at this time." He paused to allow for any objections. Phoenix eyed Edgeworth and decided to keep quiet. "This court finds the defendant, Maya Fey… **NOT GUILTY**."

"Woohoo!" Maya yelled, jumping over the railing of the defendant's box and running over to high-five Ema.

"Before court is dismissed, I'd like to speak my piece, your Honor," Edgeworth said.

 _Ah, here we go_ , Phoenix thought. _The real killer._

"Go ahead, Mr. Edgeworth."

"Even if Mr. Justice's testimony failed to incriminate anyone, he did bring up some valuable points about the appearance of the real killer," Edgeworth said, tapping one finger on his arm. "A woman, on the curvy side, with black hair, and roughly 165 centimeters tall without shoes on."

"Go on," said Phoenix cautiously.

"Naturally, there was one other person at the wedding who fit this description," Edgeworth said, a hint of triumph in his voice, "and not only that, but she has proven through her own testimony that she had the opportunity to commit the crime…"

"Okay, don't go on," Phoenix said, alarmed now. _This_ was what he'd been leading up to all trial?

"Who is it, Mr. Edgeworth?" the Judge said, eyes wide.

"Your Honor, our new lead suspect is none other than… the bride, Hester Ioides."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, actually, THIS is the shortest chapter.**

* * *

 _September 24, 2:00 PM, Detention Center_

"I am so sorry this happened, Hester," Nick was babbling, "but I'm gonna get you out of here…. Edgeworth is _so_ uninvited to the re-do ceremony…"

"It's fine, Phoenix," Hester said, "he was just doing his, his job."

"No, he's abusing his position as prosecutor because he hates you. Anyone with eyes can see you didn't do it!" Nick insisted.

"Yeah," Maya said brightly, "there's, like, evidence and stuff."

"Yes, there's… there's…" Nick trailed off, "well, we're going to go _find_ it!"

"I thought you'd never ask," Maya said, jumping up, "Ema and Pearly are already at the crime scene! C'mon, Nick!"

"I believe in you," Hester said softly as they left the room.

* * *

 _September 24, 2:45 PM, Long Beach Wedding Hall_

"Mystic Maya, why is Mr. Nick so mad?" Pearly said.

Maya shrugged. "He's just upset that his almost-wife got arrested."

"He doesn't get mad when you get arrested," Pearly said sadly.

"Nah, that's just because he knows he can get me totally off the hook," Maya said, "no need to worry!"

"I can get Hester off the hook!" Nick shouted from the room - where the murder had taken place - he was investigating with Ema in. Maya and Pearly were standing out in the hall.

Maya shrugged. "Alright, Pearly, he's just mad that Edgeworth accused her. You know how it is between them right now."

"I'd forgive him if Hester was _actually suspicious!_ " Nick yelled.

"Do you think she's suspicious, Mystic Maya?" Pearly said.

"Well, you've got to admit that Apollo's testimony was pretty-"

"Maya!"

"Nah, she's not all that suspicious," Maya said brightly. "I'm sure Nick'll find a way to wriggle out of this one."

"I'd like to see him try."

Maya turned around. Edgeworth was standing there. "Hello," Pearly said at the same time Maya said, "Sup?"

"I'm already all prepared for court tomorrow," Edgeworth said haughtily, "although I'd like to talk to Wright first."

"Sure, he's right in there," Maya said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. Edgeworth walked in the room, and she and Pearls lingered in the doorway to watch what unfolded.

"Hi, Mr. Edgeworth!" Ema said, elbowing Nick, who was apparently deliberately ignoring Edgeworth's presence.

"Edgeworth," Nick said, somewhere between a grumble and a sigh.

"Wright," Edgeworth said crisply.

"Here to pour salt in the wound?"

"Here to tell you you should just cut your losses and turn her over to the public defender. She's guilty, Wright."

"She's my fiancée, Edgeworth."

"I know."

"And that's why you accused her," Nick snapped.

Edgeworth scoffed. "Do you really think I'm so petty that I would abuse the law just because I dislike someone?"

"I - I don't know anymore," Nick said.

"You'll thank me later, Wright."

Nick took a step closer to Edgeworth, incensed. " _Thank_ you-? I, I-! You should never have come back, Edgeworth! You should have stayed dead and just let me move _on_ with my life without you trying to ruin _everything!_ "

"Oh, we're back to this, are we?" Edgeworth said with a kind of wounded sneer.

"You had my fiancée arrested! What do you want from me?!"

"I want you to see the truth," Edgeworth barked, "Wright, Ms. Ioides really _isn't_ who she seems to be and she's been playing you for a-"

Edgeworth didn't get to finish the sentence, because Nick punched him in the face.

"Mr. Edgeworth!" Ema gasped, at the same time Maya yelled, "My gods, _Nick!_ " and Pearly let out a small scream. Edgeworth staggered back, clutching his face. Nick stood shock-still, eyes wide, arm still half-extended.

"Oh…" he said very quietly as Edgeworth gingerly pulled his hand away from his face, looking at it intently. Blood streamed out of his nose. "E-E-Edgeworth, I… I'm…"

"Forget it, Wright," Edgeworth grunted as he pulled out a handkerchief and mopped up his nose. "I'm not giving up on you. You'll see in court tomorrow."

"N-No," Nick said, "Hester is…" Edgeworth stalked out of the room. Nick stared blankly at his fist.

"Nick, you have to go after him!" Maya said, grabbing his sleeve. "You have to go apologize!"

"Maya, I - I can't face him like this."

"You have to!" Ema said, pushing his back, "Go apologize for hitting him!"

"Yeah, Mr. Nick!" Pearly added, pulling at his other sleeve, "your friendship with him is in danger!"

Nick sighed heavily, dropping his arm. "I think our friendship was over the day I started dating Hester," he admitted.

Maya groaned. How could Nick be so blind? "Nick, the thing is, Edgeworth really-"

"I don't want to talk about him right now," Nick said, tearing himself away from Maya, Ema, and Pearly and walking over to the other side of the room. "Look, after sixteen years, I'm going to… I'm going to let him go."

* * *

 _September 24, 3:30 PM, Detention Center_

"Ms. Ioides."

"Mr. Edgeworth," she said in her soft, timid voice.

"I can only assume you know why I'm here."

"Is this an… what's it called again - an interrogation?"

"I only want to talk."

Edgeworth and Ioides stared at each other for a while. "Okay," she said finally, with a weak smile.

"By the way," Edgeworth said, "if we're going to talk, you can drop the act."

"What act?" Ioides said hesitantly, crossing her arms closely against herself.

"The shy little ingénue act."

"Ingénue?" She tilted her head, eyes innocently wide.

"Yes," Edgeworth said coldly, "you should understand what that is, of course. It is, after all, a theatre term."

"I'm not an actress, though," Ioides said with a bland little laugh.

"I didn't say you were - although that was a lie just now anyway, wasn't it… Ms. Arianrhod?"

Ioides fell silent, eyes wide, pupils small. Her lips were trembling. "Where…" she said in an uncharacteristically harsh whisper, "where did you get that name from?"

Edgeworth half-pulled a manilla envelope out of his organizer, eyeing Ioides pointedly. "A background check is a simple thing - and even if you were never a popular actress, all I needed was one photo to compare."

Ioides bared her teeth a him ferally for half a moment, then her face smoothed out into her previous shrinking violet expression. "How much do you know, Mr. Edgeworth?"

"Everything. And I can and will prove it in court tomorrow, naturally. Your little scheme is only going to fail from here on out."

Ioides continued staring meekly at Edgeworth (or rather at Edgeworth's cravat, as her eyes were slightly lowered) for almost a full minute, but her mouth was gradually twisting up into a wicked smirk. "I think you underestimate my fiancé, Mr. Edgeworth," she said sweetly, with a deliberate trace of hostile arrogance.

"I think the one who's underestimating him here is you," Edgeworth said.

"Am I now?" She looked him in the eye, glaring sharply. With a start, Edgeworth realized that she was mimicking his body language - how often did she _do_ that? - but he wasn't going to let that faze him.

"Wright believes in finding the truth above all else."

"Oh? Even love?"

"Even infatuation."

Ioides laughed. "Alright, fine, if you want to call it infatuation, go ahead - it doesn't change the fact that we're getting married - we should have been married already, Mr. Edgeworth, if only you had waited another ten seconds."

"I'm afraid you aren't going to be getting married to anyone," Edgeworth said icily, "you're going behind bars. And if you'll forgive my pettiness, I hope you're going to death row."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say, Mr. Edgeworth," Ioides sneered, "but tomorrow afternoon I'll be out of here, and you'll still have ruined everything you ever had with Phoenix." Her sneer widened, showing more teeth. "Of course, even if you do somehow win, you'll still have ruined everything."

"I know," Edgeworth said emotionlessly, "but you give yourself far too much credit, Ms. Ioides. I ruined everything I'd ever had with Wright the day I left a note that said 'Miles Edgeworth chooses death.'"

Ioides laughed again. "Even less of a reason to 'save' him from me!"

"On the contrary, I can't think of a better reason." Edgeworth looked away. "Even if he hates me for the rest of his life, I…"

"Love martyr," Ioides crowed.

* * *

 _September 25, 9:50 AM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby No. 2_

"What's wrong, Hester? Are you nervous?" Maya said.

Hester gave her a baleful look from where she was hanging off of Nick's arm. "No," she said, "I'm sure Phoenix can get me off."

Maya pressed her lips together. _Too… obvious…_

"Trial's starting soon," Pearly said.

"Pearls and I will be in the gallery," Ema said.

"How about a kiss for good luck, Hester?" Nick said, leaning down. (Pearls made a disgusted face in the background.)

"We're in public, Phoenix," Hester said with a quiet giggle, putting her hand over his mouth.

"Aww…"

* * *

 **Yay, you get to see a bit of Hester's true self! Y'know, I actually really like Hester even if I'm not overly fond of this whole fic. I like how she's pretty much an inversion of the last femme fatale character I used in an AA fic, Badriyyah Zuvan from the Prosecutor Trucy AU (that is, T-Minus Turnabout): Hester acts meek and insecure but is actually vicious and arrogant, while Badri acts vicious and arrogant but is actually meek and insecure.**

 **BTW, an ingénue is a stock character of an "endearingly innocent and wholesome" young woman.**

 **Tune in next time for the "thrilling" conclusion!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Last chapter! :D**

* * *

 _September 25, 10:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom No. 2_

"Court is now in session for the trial of Hester Ioides."

"The defense is ready, your Honor."

"The prosecution is more than ready, your Honor."

 _The prosecution is also a salty bastard_ , Phoenix thought.

"Nick…" Maya said scoldingly.

"Mr. Edgeworth, your opening statement, please," the Judge said.

Edgeworth shrugged pompously. "Everything was outlined at Ms. Fey's trial yesterday. We have witness testimony placing her in the hallway at the time of the murder, when she claimed to be in her room. The other evidence points to her attempting to frame Maya Fey."

"Objection!" Phoenix said, "Just before Maya was arrested, Hester said that she thought that _you_ were the murderer! You were there! Why would she do that if she were trying to frame Maya?"

"Because claiming that Maya did it at that juncture would be far too obvious," Edgeworth said smoothly.

"But-"

Edgeworth cut him off. "The prosecution calls the defendant to the stand."

Hester meekly took the stand and looked pleadingly over at Phoenix as she did so. _Don't worry, Hester_ , Phoenix thought, clenching his fists, _I know you didn't do it!_

"Witness, name and occupation."

"…Hester Ioides… I'm between jobs at the moment."

"I'd like to revisit your testimony against Ms. Fey yesterday."

"Of course."

"You were alone while you were getting changed into your wedding dress, weren't you?"

"…yes, I'm afraid I was."

"Hold it!" Phoenix said, "if she was changing by herself, then it would have taken her the whole hour to put the dress on! It's a wedding dress, after all!"

"Yeah, its design does look pretty complicated," Maya added.

Edgeworth shook his head. "It only _looks_ complicated. Forensics examined the dress and commented that, even for a lone woman unfamiliar with formal attire, it shouldn't take more than 45 minutes to put it on." Hester flinched.

"Well, uh…" Phoenix said, "okay, yeah, but the fingerprints-"

"Nick, are you accusing me?" Maya said.

"No! I'm just saying - the real killer must have used gloves, so-"

"And who's to say that Ms. Ioides didn't use gloves?" Edgeworth said.

 _He's enjoying this_ , Phoenix thought sourly.

"But I didn't…" Hester whimpered.

Edgeworth presented a blood-spotted pair of white gloves. "Look, they even match her dress."

"What. E-Edgeworth-"

"Moving on," Edgeworth said brusquely, "The woman the young Mr. Justice described could only have been her."

"Just because she has black hair-!"

"And she fits the body type and height."

Phoenix grumbled. This wasn't going well. At all. Edgeworth wasn't just a step ahead of him - he was already at the finish line, waiting patiently for Phoenix to catch up.

Hester cleared her throat demurely. "Mr. Edgeworth," she said, "the Justice child said that the murderer's hair was - how did he say… down. I didn't take my hair down until after-"

"You took your hair out of your wrappings when we were doing our makeup!" Maya objected.

"Uh," Phoenix said quickly, "the defense can't provide testimony against-"

"Nick!"

"S-Sorry, but-"

"Objection sustained," the Judge said, "this court recognizes that Ms. Ioides had her hair loose at the time the murderer was witnessed."

Phoenix clenched his fists again. "She also had a perfect opportunity to steal Maya's channeling robes," Edgeworth was saying.

"Objection!" Phoenix said, pointing. "How was she supposed to know that the room was empty so she could steal the robes?!"

"And why would I steal them in the first place?" Hester said, finally standing up for herself. "You say that I wanted to frame Maya, but I would have no way of even knowing about her fingerprints on the cart and knife!"

Edgeworth didn't even blink. "Maya is fairly predictable," he said, "it would have been easy to figure that she was going to sneak off to the kitchen as soon as she had a moment alone."

"Wow, that's harsh," Maya said, "but true."

"Moreover, Ms. Ioides, I do not believe that your intention was to frame Maya in the first place."

"…what?" Phoenix said. Wasn't that a big part of his case against her? What was he doing?

"Yes," Edgeworth continued, "I have reason to believe that Mr. Powers' murder was not planned in advance. As far as fingerprints are concerned, I believe the defendant's only thought to them at the time of the murder was that she must not leave her own. And I believe that she only stole Maya's channeling robes to circumvent the possibility of Mr. Powers' blood splashing back on her."

"What?" Phoenix said, "so the framing was just a coincidence?"

"It may have been improvised," Edgeworth said evenly, "she may have gotten the idea when she was stealing the cake cart to move Mr. Powers' body. Once she realized how likely it was that Maya had left her fingerprints on the cart and knife, and since she already had the convenient robes, she likely _allowed_ Mr. Justice to see her so he would accuse Maya later."

"But-! If she were trying to frame Maya, why wouldn't she testify against her?!"

"She kind of did," Maya reminded him.

"She also incriminated herself with the same testimony!"

Edgeworth held his palms up, shaking his head. "She couldn't say anything that directly contradicted what Maya really did. After all, the only people she was trying to force a wedge between were you and I."

Phoenix slammed the defense bench. "She wasn't driving a wedge between you and me! That - was all your fault!"

"Mr. Wright! Mr. Edgeworth!" the Judge said sternly, "please keep your personal issues out of the trial!"

Phoenix grit his teeth. _I don't know how he expects me to do that when it's my fiancée who stands accused!_

"Anyway," Edgeworth said, unruffled, "I suppose her thinking was that as long as she didn't put up any obvious contradictions, you would continue to think that her alleged lack of involvement in the murder was really the truth!"

"It is!" Phoenix insisted. He was sweating. He had no evidence, no testimony, no contradictions to latch onto… what was Edgeworth doing? Did he _really_ think that Hester did it?!

"Nick, what are we gonna do?" Maya whispered. "Hester's gonna get found guilty at this rate!"

"I - I don't- wait," Phoenix said, then looked determinedly back over the court again. "There's still one thing that the prosecution needs to prove: a motive!"

Then something horrible happened that even Phoenix couldn't miss. It wasn't Edgeworth's victorious smirk. It was how Hester's eyes had suddenly grown wide and her face had suddenly grown pale.

"Did you really think I didn't have a motive prepared?" Edgeworth said, pulling out an envelope.

"W-Wait," Phoenix said, "hold it!"

"Problem, Mr. Wright?" Edgeworth said. He almost looked like he was having fun.

"J-Just… wait a minute," Phoenix said. He need to at least brace himself. Or…

A sigh sounded beside him. Phoenix jerked his head up.

"Chief!"

She was looking at the witness stand very seriously, then turned to Phoenix. Her eyes were hard. "You don't learn, do you, Phoenix?"

"Ch-Chief?"

Edgeworth slapped the manilla envelope on the prosecution bench. "Wright, how much did you really know about your bride?"

"What?" Phoenix blinked rapidly.

"Not enough, apparently," Mia said.

"Did you know that before she met you, she used to be an actress?" Edgeworth said.

"What does that have to do with-" Phoenix started.

Edgeworth interrupted him. "An obscure actress going by the name Maeve Arianrhod?"

Hester noticeably flinched. The Judge blinked in surprise. "Meave Arianrhod?" he said.

"Yes, your Honor."

"The one who dated Matt Engarde?" Hester flinched again. Her hair wrappings were starting to become undone, spiraling in a long ribbon down to the floor…

"The very same, your Honor."

"Objection!" Phoenix said, "that doesn't mean anything! Everyone dates a scumbag sometime in their life! …right?"

"And some people never get out of the habit," Mia said, glaring at Phoenix.

"N-No," Phoenix said, banging his hands on the defense bench, "E-Edgeworth's mistaken, right, Hester? Right?"

"I… I…" Hester's eyes flicked rapidly between the defense and the prosecution. "I…"

"Give up, Ms. Arianrhod," Edgeworth said coldly. "This simple fact is all we need to deduce your motive… or should I say, your real target?"

"I…"

"What do you mean, 'real target'?" Phoenix demanded.

"He's talking about you, Phoenix," Mia said, "she wanted to kill you, as revenge for Matt Engarde."

"B-But I… no… -but what does Will Powers have to do with this?!" Phoenix said desperately.

Edgeworth shrugged. "It's simple, really. Mr. Powers had never met your fiancée before, had he?"

"No…"

Edgeworth shook his head. "He had, actually. Only instead of knowing her as Hester Ioides, he knew her as Meave Arianrhod, the girlfriend of Matt Engarde."

"She must have killed him because she couldn't run the risk of you finding out her connection to Engarde," Mia murmured.

"Wouldn't Adrian Andrews also have known?" Phoenix said weakly, "No one murdered Adrian Andrews…"

Edgeworth held up a paper from the manilla envelope. "Ms. Arianrhod and Mr. Engarde broke up a while before Ms. Andrews was Mr. Engarde's manager. She never would have known her."

"But - but - revenge!" Phoenix yelled, pointing again. Even if even Mia was against him and Hester now, he couldn't give up! "What kind of motive is that?! I was only Engarde's defense attorney, and an unwilling one at that! What would there be to take revenge against _me_ for?!"

"For betraying him and sending him to prison."

There was a long pause before Phoenix realized that Hester had been the one who had spoken.

"…what?" he said, turning fearfully towards the witness stand.

"I said," Hester snarled, eyes wide and feral, white-knuckling the stand, her hair completely undone and falling in untamed curtains around her pale face, "you. Betrayed. Him. And sent him to prison!"

"He was guilty!" Mia yelled at Hester. Phoenix was too shocked to speak.

"So you decided to get your revenge on Wright," Edgeworth said.

Hester laughed wildly. "Of course I had to get my revenge! I was going to pay him back for what he did - I was going to _kill him!_ "

"But… we were… engaged," Phoenix said slowly, shaking.

Hester blew a lock of hair out of her eyes irritably. "Yeah, that was the plan, nitwit. We were engaged, we were going to be married," her voice turned sweet, "and I was going to kill you on our wedding night. After all, there's no - oh, what's the word I'm looking for? - no _higher betrayal_ than to be strangled by _your own wife_ , is there?" She smiled her innocent little smile.

"I… can't believe this," Phoenix whispered.

"You brought this upon yourself," Mia told him.

"Only too true!" Hester growled, "what kind of moron proposes after six months? It was _so_ perfect - I was going to have our revenge even sooner than I thought - but there were a couple things in my way." She glared around the courtroom, then settled on Edgeworth. "Mostly you, Mr. Edgeworth. You were so determined to cause trouble in our relationship…"

Suddenly, she pulled her engagement ring off her finger and threw it across the courtroom angrily. "Well, good job, Mr. Edgeworth!" she shrieked, "you broke us up! The wedding's off, Phoenix! All because your dear Edgeworth couldn't keep his nose where he belonged." She turned towards Phoenix with a predatory expression. "And you know, he only found out about that whole 'Meave Arianrhod' business yesterday or maybe two days ago. This whole time he'd only been antagonizing you out of his own petty jealousy!

"Even if he saved you, he still showed you what a scoundrel he really was!" She laughed and laughed. "You were right, Phoenix! It really would have been better if he'd never come back! If he'd have _died!_ That would have been so good…"

She chuckled, and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Whatever," she said, her voice hissing through her teeth bared in a ferocious grin, "I don't mind going to prison. That's where the man I truly love, the man I'd do anything for, my precious Matt is… I just have one more thing to say before the great Meave Arianrhod takes her final bow." She scowled at Edgeworth. "As long as your beloved Phoenix believes in finding the truth above his obligation to his client, there's always going to be someone like me. And you're not always going to be able to save him.

"Now, take me away!" she almost sang, kissing her fingers then spreading her arms wide. "Take me to prison! To Matt!" She bowed. "Thank you, Los Angeles!"

"Uh…" the Judge said, as the bailiff gave him a confused glance, "I suppose in that case, this court finds the defendant, Hester Ioides, also known as Meave Arianrhod…"

"Objection!" Phoenix shouted.

"Phoenix!" Mia said reproachfully, "she's already confessed! There's nothing you can do!"

"I - I just want to ask her one thing," Phoenix said tremblingly, "Hester… you never… you never loved me?"

"Not even a bit!" Hester said, her grin still wide and her arms still held out, "I hated your guts, and I couldn't wait to spill them…!"

Phoenix sighed, half-collapsing onto the defense bench.

"Go ahead, your Honor," Mia said.

The Judge cleared his throat. "This court finds the defendant **GUILTY**."

* * *

"Phoenix."

"…"

"Phoenix…"

"…"

" _Phoenix._ "

"Let me die in peace…"

Mia sighed. "Phoenix, I hope you learned a lesson."

"Yeah. I did."

"…again."

Phoenix sat up. His face had been almost sticking to the defense bench from his tears. "Why, Chief?" he whimpered, "why does this keep happening to me?"

Mia didn't seem to have much sympathy for him. "You're the one who proposed after six months, apparently."

"I… I loved her, Mia. She was perfect."

Mia rolled her eyes. "Phoenix, have you ever heard of the phrase 'too good to be true'?"

"But…" Phoenix sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Chief, I just…"

"She was crazy. And not in a good way. Or even a neutral way."

"But I was in love with her!"

"Phoenix, you can't start with love."

"Huh?" He peered out from behind his fingers. Mia was looking kindly at him for the first time since Maya channeled her.

"Relationships don't just start with love," she said, "they start with friendship… and trust. If you didn't have those before you fell in love, then your love's not going to be strong enough to last." She smiled slightly. "That's why you can't go for someone perfect, Phoenix. With someone who's too good to be true, you'll fall in love with them before you can learn to trust them."

Phoenix stared at Mia for a while, then looked vaguely across the empty courtroom. "Trust, huh…"

* * *

 _October 10, 7:00 PM, Wright and Co. Law Offices_

Edgeworth knocked on the door again. He hadn't seen Wright at all since Arianrhod's trial. Maybe he really didn't want to see him…

"Come in," Wright's voice came from the other side of the door. Edgeworth let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in.

Wright was sitting at his desk, working on some paperwork. Such is the life of a lawyer. He looked up at Edgeworth and smiled. "Edgeworth!"

"…Wright."

Wright started to stand up, but Edgeworth motioned for him not to bother. "I just came to tell you…"

"Yes?"

"I - I'm leaving for Europe tonight. I'm going to be studying foreign legal systems from now on - my plane leaves at 11:00."

Wright's face fell slightly. "Oh." The was a little pause before he said, "you'll come back, right?"

Edgeworth almost smiled at that. "Of course I will. I…" he looked off to the side, suddenly embarrassed. "I couldn't leave you alone again, after… last year."

"Edgeworth, it's fine," Wright said, "I've been doing a lot of thinking lately…"

"A dangerous pastime."

"Yeah. Anyway, I've… decided that I - _we_ \- don't need to be afraid anymore."

Edgeworth gave him a curious look. "Afraid?"

Wright shrugged. "Look, we've been through a lot these past few years, haven't we? So… I think it's time we trusted each other with more than just court. I think it's time we trusted each other with our lives. You know what I mean, right?" he added, turning faintly pink.

"I honestly don't know what you're trying to say, Wright."

Wright sighed, bit his lip. "I'm just saying that if you felt guilt about what happened a year ago, don't. And I'm also apologizing for everything I put you through. So we're even now."

Edgeworth nodded slowly. "And… our last trial?"

"Water under the bridge," he said with a sad smile, "actually, Edgeworth… thanks. Thanks a lot. I should have listened to you sooner."

"Yes, well, not listening to anyone is a character trait of yours, so…" Edgeworth muttered, then dug around in his pocket.

"What are you looking for?"

"I had something to give back to you." He pulled out Arianrhod's engagement ring and held his hand out to Wright, deliberately looking away. "I understand if you don't particularly want it, but it _is_ rather a nice ring, so I imagine it was fairly expensive, so you should at least return it or sell it or…" He trailed off, feeling ridiculous.

"…" Edgeworth felt Wright's hand on his own, but to his surprise, instead of picking up the ring, he gently folded Edgeworth's fingers around it, and placed his hands over Edgeworth's. His hands were… very warm. "You know what, Edgeworth… why don't you keep it?"

Edgeworth looked at Wright, confused. "…what?"

Wright laughed. It was good to hear again. "I'm not proposing to you," he said with a kind of crooked grin, "or at least, not yet. I just… as I said, I've been thinking a lot, and I realized why… you were acting the way you did."

Edgeworth, mortified and thrilled in turn, started to scramble for words to respond to that, but Wright stopped with a squeeze of his hand. "I also realized something else," he said, "I… I feel the same way, Edgeworth, and honestly, I have since we were nine." He blushed too now. "So what I'm saying is, do you want to… you know, be a couple?"

"As long as you don't go around telling everyone and being obnoxious about it," Edgeworth said faintly.

Wright laughed again. "I love you, Edgeworth."

"I… I love you, Wright." And then they kissed, over the desk, with the hands still joined.

They were interrupted by the door getting kicked open.

"Hey, Ni- OH MY GODS, Franziska, LOOK!"

"What?! What is going on, little brother?!"

Edgeworth and Wright sprang apart and Edgeworth almost fell over, whipping his head towards the door. Maya and Franziska were standing there, both looking absolutely flabbergasted.

"Uh, I can explain-" Edgeworth started.

"We're dating now," Wright said cheerfully. (He recovered much faster than Edgeworth, for once.)

"Nick!" Maya said almost reproachfully, then turned to Franziska and handed her a fifty. "I can't believe you called it…"

"What can I say?" Franziska said with a smirk, "even my betting odds are perfect."

* * *

 **As usual I'd like to thank anyone who followed, faved, or reviewed. If it weren't for y'all pointlessly stoking my ego, I might actually doing something productive instead of writing fanfiction! (Psst, check out my profile for more non-production.)**

 **Anyway, onto the important stuff, like ETYMOLOGY! Both Maeve Arianrhod and Hester Ioides are very meaningful names, you know: "Meave" means "one who intoxicates" and Arianrhod is a figure in Welsh mythology whose entire story is pretty much just petty revenge. Meanwhile, Hester is taken from The Scarlet Letter (funnily enough, since I hated that book - the important thing here is the hint at adultery) and combined with Ioides, it's a pun on "hesperioides", a moth in the genus... wait for it... Dahlia! Hahaha!**

 **Alway, hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading.**


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